


You Gave Me the Fucking Flu

by improbabledicks (Strawberry_Hill)



Series: Vaguely-Related Domestic Snippets [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:59:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2706551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberry_Hill/pseuds/improbabledicks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erwin accidentally infects his roommate Levi and has to care for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Gave Me the Fucking Flu

**Author's Note:**

> This was heavily inspired by the time I gave [veteratorianvillainy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/skeptics_secret/pseuds/veteratorianvillainy), my freshman-roommate-turned-best-friend, swine flu when we were in the dorms. I had a mild fever for maybe a day and a half. She was out for a week. 
> 
> You can follow my eruri sideblog at [improbabledicks](http://improbabledicks.tumblr.com/).

It started when Erwin woke with an aching throat. He groaned, blindly groping over the edge of his bed for the water bottle stashed somewhere in his backpack. His hand curled around it, and he managed to prop himself up enough to unscrew the cap and take a swig. The water hit his swollen throat, and he tensed, smothering his face in a pillow to muffle the coughing fit that ensued. 

The pile of blankets on the other side of the room shifted slightly. Erwin stilled, squinting in the darkness of the dorm room, but his roommate appeared to still be asleep. He took a careful sip of his water before quietly placing the bottle on the edge of his desk and rolling onto his side, trying to get back to sleep.

* 

“You fucker. You’re sick, aren’t you?”

Erwin jumped, nearly spilling the bottle of medicine he’d just opened. He turned to face his now-awake roommate, guilt written on his face.  

“I’m just taking precautions,” he defended. “It’s probably nothing.”

Levi’s eyes narrowed as he sat up in bed, his dark hair rumpled. “Sure. Stay the hell away from me in the meantime.”

“I’ll try not to cough on your desk.” Erwin downed the shot of disgusting medicine, grimacing at the taste. 

Levi seemed to shrink backwards, as if he could hide from disease in his small bed. Erwin ignored his glare as he got ready for his early class, and Levi didn’t slide out from under his comforter until Erwin was almost out the door.  

By dinnertime, Erwin knew he’d caught something. A persistent ache had been growing in his skull most of the afternoon, his forehead was hot, and he hadn’t had a chance to swing by his room to get more medicine in between classes and study sessions. It must have been obvious, since Mike had offered to just email Erwin the economics solutions they’d been going over.  

Erwin was slumped in a dining hall chair, listlessly stirring the bowl of soup he’d decided on. Mike and Nanaba watched him warily.

“Maybe you should go back to your room and sleep a bit,” Mike suggested, eyeing the spoon that continued to make lazy revolutions through Erwin’s clam chowder. 

“Maybe...” Erwin echoed, checking the time. “I didn’t sleep much last night.” 

“Go rest,” Nanaba said gently. “Leave your dishes. We’ll get them when we leave.” 

“Thanks,” Erwin replied, getting to his feet slowly. “See you guys in class tomorrow, hopefully.” They nodded sympathetically. 

“Feel better!” Mike called as he walked towards the dining hall entrance.

* 

Levi wasn’t there when Erwin got back, unsurprisingly. The small room seemed much more empty than normal—Erwin often returned to find Levi sitting quietly on his bed with his laptop and a notebook, but not tonight. The faint smell of cleaning solution permeated the air, and he noticed Levi’s side of the room was even more organized and spotless than normal, and he’d changed his sheets, the bedspread stuffed in his laundry bag by the door.  

Erwin rolled his eyes at the decontamination attempt. It wasn’t like he ever ventured onto Levi’s side of the room to begin with, though he resisted the temptation to rub his face on his roommate’s pillow. Instead, he grabbed the bottle of Nyquil from his first aid kit, poured himself a generous dose, and crawled into his own bed to hopefully sleep off his fever. 

The medicine knocked Erwin out in no time. He woke briefly when Levi returned, the sound of jangling coins and the vague smell of laundry detergent insinuating themselves into his half-sleeping dreams. Then it was silent, and Erwin slipped back down into complete sleep.  

Erwin’s alarm blared the next morning, and he fumbled to silence it. Sunlight streamed through the slight gap in the curtains, and Levi was nowhere in sight, his backpack gone and bed neatly made. Erwin stretched, blinking the sleep from his eyes. His headache was gone, and when he felt his forehead, his temperature seemed normal again. He rushed to dress as his stomach began to growl, heading to the dining hall to make up for his missed dinner as soon as he was decent. 

* 

“You know, I don’t feel sick anymore,” Erwin commented when Levi returned that evening and made a beeline for the hand sanitizer on his desk. 

Levi regarded Erwin with appraising eyes. “I’m not taking any chances,” he replied. “My immune system is shit, and I don’t like being sick.”

Erwin shrugged. “It could have just been something I ate. I’ve felt fine all day.”

“Yeah, whatever. Still not taking chances. It’s nothing personal.”

“I understand.” Erwin smiled. “Does that mean you don’t want to grab dinner with me? They’re serving that weird pizza you like tonight.”

Levi hesitated. “I don’t have a ton of meals left this term...”

“You know my parents put way too many meals on my plan. Let me cover you—they’re going to go to waste otherwise.”

Levi shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly torn. It was almost sacrilege for a student to turn down free food. 

“Ugh...fine. Just try not to breathe on me or anything.”

Erwin grinned.

*

Two days later, Erwin returned from class to find his roommate sprawled limply on the linoleum floor of their room. 

“Oh my god, Levi!” He rushed to kneel by Levi’s prone form, hand reaching out to hesitantly jostle his shoulder.

“Wha...”Levi mumbled, his voice muffled. 

“Jesus. I thought you were dead.” Erwin grasped Levi by the arm and rolled him onto his side. “Why are you on the floor?” 

“It fel’ nice...” Levi replied slowly, blinking. “I was hot.”

Erwin pushed Levi’s sweaty bangs off his forehead to feel the skin. It was burning. 

“You’ve got a fever.” 

“No... I don’,” Levi mumbled, weakly attempting to swat Erwin’s hand away.

“Um. Yes you do.”

“No. ‘m not sick.”

“Levi, I think you’re delirious,” Erwin said, tugging on his arm. “You should get into bed.”

Levi grumbled, curling in on himself. “‘m fine here.”

“The floor is probably dirty.” 

Levi stilled. 

“...I wan’ get on my bed.” He made to get up, grabbing at his desk chair for support. Erwin grasped his arm so he wouldn’t fall, and Levi managed to push himself halfheartedly onto his bedspread. Erwin tried to tug the blankets out from under him, but Levi swatted him away. 

“Too hot,” he mumbled, wiggling towards the wall. 

Erwin sighed. “Are you hungry? Did you eat dinner?”

“Nah... jus’ breakfast.” 

“You didn’t eat lunch?”

Levi grumbled noncommittally. 

“You should probably eat something.”

There was no reply. 

*

An hour later, Erwin returned with a bottle of Gatorade from the vending machine and a lumpy bundle wrapped in napkins. The small form curled on the bed did not acknowledge his presence. 

“Levi.”

The form grumbled.

“It’s time to eat. I brought you chicken nuggets.”

“No’ hungry.” 

Erwin knelt next to the bed. 

“You have to eat them. I stole them from the dining hall. Do you know what would have happened if they’d caught me?”

Levi buried his face in his bedspread. 

“They would have made me go to a seminar about not stealing. But I still risked that to steal them for you. And they’re still warm.”

No response. Erwin sighed, looking around for inspiration. He remembered the Gatorade and pressed the cold bottle to Levi’s exposed neck. Levi tensed, squirming until he had rolled himself to face Erwin, a small hand tugging the bottle from Erwin’s fingers to press it against his flushed cheek. He gazed narrowly at Erwin. 

“Come on,” Erwin coaxed, gingerly unwrapping the napkins and waving the bundle under Levi’s nose. “You like the dining hall’s chicken nuggets. And they only serve them once a week.”

Levi sniffed at the food carefully before reaching for a nugget and nibbling it tentatively. Satisfied, Erwin got to his feet and grabbed his clean cereal bowl from his shelf, dumping the rest of the nuggets into it and putting them by Levi’s head. 

“Try to eat the rest of them. And drink the Gatorade.”

Levi grumbled, but he snagged another nugget without complaint. Erwin shook his head, retreating back to his side of the room and opening his laptop. 

*

After Levi finished his dinner, he sipped at the Gatorade until he began to shiver. Erwin look over from his homework.

“Cold?” He asked. 

Levi nodded, grasping at the edge of his bedspread and attempting to wriggle under the blankets. Erwin regarded his struggles for a moment before heaving himself out of his chair.  

“Here—” He nudged Levi towards the wall so he could pull back the covers a bit. Levi crawled under them, and didn’t protest when Erwin straightened the blankets before tucking them around him. His teeth chattered, but hopefully he would warm up soon. 

“Fucker,” Levi muttered, burrowing his face in the blankets.

“What?”

“You gave me the fucking flu.” His eyes glared up at Erwin. 

“Yeah, probably. Do you want some of my Nyquil?” Erwin asked. 

Levi groaned. “Ugh...yeah.” 

Erwin grabbed the bottle off his desk. He thought about giving Levi a half dose since he was so small, but decided against it. His roommate probably needed as much as he could get. He handed the little cup to Levi, who sniffed it and grimaced before downing it. His face screwed up in disgust and he coughed, shoving the cup towards Erwin so he could chase the medicine with Gatorade.  

“Gross,” he muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Erwin replied. “Get some sleep.” He fumbled with his desk lamp to turn it on before walking to the door to switch off the main light so the room was bathed in a soft glow. 

* 

When Erwin’s alarm went off the next morning, Levi was still laying in bed, his face eerily illuminated in the darkness by his phone’s screen. 

“Feel any better?” Erwin asked after he’d silenced his alarm. 

Levi looked up, squinting. “No’ really,” he mumbled. “...Can’t sleep anymore, though.” 

Erwin grunted as he rolled out of bed and stumbled over to the curtains to open them an inch, letting in a stream of light. 

“Not going to class, then?" 

Levi shook his head. “It’s jus’ lectures today. ‘M texting Hanji ‘bout the one we have together an’ the other ones I can jus’ read the textbooks.”

Erwin nodded, fishing his flip-flops out from under his desk. “I’m gonna go take a shower.” He looked up at Levi, who suddenly seemed to be thinking hard about something. “What?” 

Levi blinked. “Kinda wanna wash off...but...I don’ think I can.”

Five minutes and much fumbling later, Levi had his bathrobe wrapped tightly around him over his pajamas and his feet shoved into his slippers. He groaned as he shuffled towards the door that Erwin held open. They made their way slowly down the hall, Levi leaning slightly on Erwin. 

Levi stumbled towards his locker, leaning on it while he squinted at the combination lock. He washed the sweat from his face and neck while Erwin brushed his teeth, then stole some of Erwin’s mouthwash to rinse the stale taste from his mouth. 

“Wanna go back to the room?” Erwin asked as he shoved his toothbrush back into his shower caddy. 

“Yeah...Gotta piss first.”

*

Once Levi was safely back in their room, Erwin let himself shower get on with his day. He tried not to let himself worry about his roommate too much since Levi was an adult, after all, and capable of taking care of himself, even if he was sick. 

He texted Levi when he had a few minutes before his lecture started. 

_Let me know if you need anything._

Levi didn’t respond immediately, but he rarely did unless he needed to, so Erwin didn’t worry. A bit after dinner, when Erwin was finishing up some homework in the library, Levi replied, _can i take some more of ur medicine_

_Sure,_ Erwin answered, raising an eyebrow at Levi’s lack of normal spelling and punctuation. He must have really been out of it. Not long after that, Erwin decided to head back to their room since he’d left most of his textbooks there. 

He expected Levi to be sleeping when he got back, but when he turned on the light, the pile of blankets on Levi’s bed seemed to be missing their owner. 

“...Levi?” Erwin called uncertainly. The bottle of Nyquil was next to the bed, but Levi was nowhere to be found. 

He figured Levi probably went to the bathroom, but ten minutes passed and he still wasn’t back, so Erwin texted him. A moment later, he heard Levi’s phone buzz from his bed. Sighing, Erwin grabbed his lanyard and headed out the door to look for him.  

Levi wasn’t in the bathroom or wandering the halls on their floor. Erwin really hoped he hadn’t left the building—that would have made him impossible to find. He peeked into the lounge and didn’t see Levi, but a faint shuffling caught his attention. He went to investigate, only to find Levi laying next to the coffee table, clumsily pawing through a deck of cards spread over the carpet. 

“Um....What are you doing?” Erwin asked, kneeling next to the prone form. 

“Org’nizin’,” Levi slurred. Erwin then noticed he was slowly pushing the cards into a red pile and a black pile. 

“Have you been drinking?”

Levi shook his head.

“...Did you take Nyquil?”

He nodded.  

“Did you take a lot of Nyquil?”

“Iunno...” Levi mumbled. 

“Okay, come on,” Erwin said, grabbing Levi’s arm to pull him on his feet. “Time to go to bed." 

“Noooooo,” Levi protested softly, curling his hand around the coffee table’s leg with a surprisingly strong grip. 

Erwin wrapped his other arm around his roommate’s waist and tugged him away from his anchor.

“Don’ wanna.” Levi remained limp, making no effort to stand. 

“I swear to God...” Erwin hoisted him awkwardly into his arms, standing before he could grab the coffee table again. 

“Pu’ me down,” Levi grumbled, attempting to snag the door frame as Erwin carried him out of the lounge. 

Luckily, there was no one around to witness Erwin carrying his squirming roommate down the hall. He awkwardly unlocked their door and managed to push it open without knocking Levi’s head on anything. He set Levi on the bed and threw his blankets over him before going back to the lounge to pick up the cards scattered on the floor. 

When he returned, Levi had somehow managed to end up on the floor again, this time with his blankets wrapped haphazardly around him. 

“Fucking hell,” Erwin swore. “You can’t sleep on the floor. Come on. Up.”

Levi growled, weakly kicking at Erwin. Erwin grabbed him, less gently than before, and hoisted him back onto his bed. Levi immediately tried to wiggle back onto the floor. 

“I swear I will tie you to the bed if you keep doing that,” Erwin threatened, pushing him towards the center of his bed. 

Levi squirmed away from his hands and giggled—an odd, uncharacteristic sound. “You go’ rope?” he asked, grinning, his eyes suddenly more lucid. 

“Okay, that’s just creepy,” Erwin muttered, glancing away from his roommate’s sudden manic expression. “Seriously, stay in bed.”

“Make me.” 

Erwin raised an eyebrow. Levi stared back at him. He seemed determined to play this game. Well, Erwin could play, too. He kicked off his shoes. 

“Move over.” He flipped the covers back and crawled into the bed. 

Levi’s eyes widened, but he didn’t protest when Erwin pushed him to the other edge of the bed to make room. Once settled, Levi simply stared up at Erwin, rebellion flickering in his eyes, before tiredness began to slowly overcome him. His eyes drooped, and within a few minutes, he appeared to be asleep. 

Erwin let out a breath. He considered retreating back to his desk to mess around on his laptop, but he didn’t want to risk waking Levi. Instead, he carefully arranged himself into a comfortable position on his side and tried to get some sleep. 

Minutes, or maybe hours, later, Erwin woke to the feeling of a shifting weight on top of him. He blinked, orienting himself, before remembering why he was in his roommate’s bed and reaching an arm around, snagging Levi around his waist and pulling him flush to his chest before he could throw himself off the bed. 

Levi grunted in protest, attempting to wiggle his way free, slender hands pushing against Erwin’s chest. Erwin deftly grabbed Levi’s wrists with one hand and managed to flip him over so that his back was to Erwin’s chest. The struggle slowly left Levi’s body, and he grumbled, but didn’t try squirming away, when Erwin wrapped an arm around his middle.

“Go the fuck to sleep, Levi,” Erwin muttered, shifting until he was comfortable again.  

*

The next morning, Erwin was awoken by the sudden feeling of a foot planted in his gut, quickly shoving him over the edge of the mattress. He landed with a thump on the floor. 

Levi peered over the edge of his bed, hair rumpled and cheeks furiously pink.

 


End file.
